Remember four years ago when newly elected President Barack Obama told us to look at the European countries who had socialized medicine as examples of what America should have? He mentioned England and Canada and then referred to other countries as models for us to follow.

Virtually every one of those model countries are facing financial shortfalls in their national health programs. Great Britain is cutting covered services and treatments to help offset the rising costs.

Now, socialists in France and Belgium are pushing for ways to reduce the cost of national healthcare.

France’s new socialist President Francois Hollande just announced that he will allow doctors to accelerate the death of terminally ill patients. His proposal will be reviewed by a medical ethics board who hopes to have a formal plan of implementation ready by June of 2013. In addressing the issue, Hollande said:

“The existing legislation does not meet the legitimate concerns expressed by people who are gravely and incurably ill.”

In Belgium, the socialist party just introduced legislation that would allow minors and Alzheimer’s patients to request permission to die. Belgium passed an euthanasia law in 2002, but it only applies to people over the age of 18. The current plan is to amend the existing law to include minors that ‘are capable of discernment or affected by an incurable illness or suffering that we cannot alleviate.’